Items filtered by date: Sunday, 05 March 2017

(CNN)Officials have found the body of Jurgen Kantner, a German hostage beheaded by Islamist militants in the Philippines last week.

Kantner's body was retrieved Saturday in the southern province of Sulu, officials said."We will coordinate with the appropriate offices for the disposition of the remains of the victim," Western Mindanao Command Maj. Gen. Carlito G. Galvez Jr. said.

German national Jurgen Kantner and his partner, Sabine Merz, in 2009, months after they were freed by Somali pirates.Philippine and German officials confirmed last week that Kantner had been killed after being held for three months by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines.It was the second time Kanter had been abducted. He was held along with his partner, Sabine Merz, by Somali pirates for nearly two months in 2008.Kanter was beheaded by Abu Sayyaf after a deadline to pay his ransom passed. The group had demanded 30 million Philippine pesos ($600,000) by February 26.Abu Sayyaf posted a gruesome video of its militants killing the man with a curved knife. The video was distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group."The Federal Chancellor condemns the abominable act, which once again shows how unscrupulous and inhumane these terrorists are. We all must stand together and fight against them," said Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte apologized to